In her works, Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir has criticised both the
egocentricity of the consumer society and the introspection
of those Icelandic artists who are self-satisfiedly swept
along by the currents of supply and demand. Ósk
Vilhjálmsdóttir draws attention to the artist’s
social responsibility and the role of art. Art is not
supposed to be isolated ornamentation or a simple
illustration to society. Art is an integral part of
society. Consequently, art is at once a device for
examining society in terms of the forces that shape it. Art
can both be the occasion of and forum for dialogue, and at
the same time one method to explore society and its
discourse. Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir’s work has echoes
among the works of international artists who have
transcended the frivolity of postmodernism, which regards
discourse as its sole subject and has thereby lost its
faith in the truth. Even though the artist cannot touch
truth itself, art is capable of opening a previously
unknown path to reality. Art touches reality in a different
way from language. It outwits language and evades the
verbal net of discourse which continuously sweeps us in
during the endless whirl of consumption. Ósk
Vilhjálmsdóttir has used photography to address the complex
relationship between individuals and the reality that
surrounds them. She focuses on individuals’ efforts
to navigate existence by documenting their lives with the
aid of photography. Through her art, Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir
takes part in the living international artistic dialogues
on the limits of reality, of society and of the individual.
Dialogues that have been defined as part of the neo-realism
that came into being after postmodernism began facing up to
its own limitations.